PHILLIES: Halladay rehabs in Clearwater

Roy Halladay’s surgically enhanced attempt to get his career back on the rails landed the right-hander on the mound at the Carpenter Complex in Clearwater, Fla., Thursday afternoon during a rehabilitation start in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League.

The game results and radar-gun readings were just mediocre enough for the Phillies and fans of the two-time Cy Young winner to neither jump for joy nor slump in resignation of a career careening to a close.

Halladay worked six innings against a collection of teenagers from the Pirates organization, allowing three runs, all of which came in the final two frames. The 36-year-old was clocked in the 86-88 mph range with his fastball — a reading that was where he was sitting prior to having his labrum and rotator cuff repaired by an arthroscopic procedure three months ago.

The difference, according to the organization and Halladay, is that he has regained the range of motion to get on top of his curve and cut fastball, pitches that suffered when he couldn’t come over the top. The intrigue lies in whether those pitches can thrive if he doesn’t gain the 5-7 miles per hour that remain missing from his heyday.

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Halladay got plenty of ground-ball outs over the first four innings. However, in the fifth he gave up an RBI triple to Trae Arbet, a fifth-round selection in the June draft, and in the sixth Halladay showed signs of tiring. After retiring the first batter on a batter’s interference call during a bunt attempt, Halladay gave up a solo homer to Ulises Montilla, his first homer in his last 263 professional plate appearances. A pair of walks bookending a single loaded the bases and a fielder’s choice grounder scored the third run. Halladay did strike out the final two batters he faced, giving him a line of six hits, three runs, three walks and four strikeouts in six innings and 87 pitches.

The Phillies haven’t said where his next rehab start will come, but the Class A Clearwater Threshers play at home Tuesday night against the Tampa Yankees. General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. was selling a two-start rehab if all went well, but Thursday’s mixed bag might make for a slower progression to the Phillies’ rotation.